YouGlish is an online trove of authentic language videos developed to “provide pronunciation in context” (Barhen, personal communication).

Features

Users can enter a word or phrase in the search bar and choose whether to limit the search to U.S., U.K., or Australian English. The first video appears, complete with a transcript just below with the searched word highlighted. Continue watching that video or, under the transcript, click the “Next” button for the next video. The control panel includes “play/pause,” “5-second replay,” and “replay from the beginning” of the given selection. Speed control is below the video screen, making it possible to slow the video down to 0.5 speed while maintaining clear voice quality (this feature is used in a number of activities in this article).

Scrolling down, users will find more information about the searched word or phrase, including “Nearby words” (minimal pairs and other related words whose videos you can search), “Phonetic” (phonetic transcriptions and syllable count), and “Tips to improve English pronunciation” (general pronunciation strategies, including prosody and a few English teaching channels on YouTube). To save videos and sign up for daily lessons, users can create a free account (at the top).

Activities/Applications

Lara’s activities were done with international teaching assistants (ITAs) and are based on the teacher having already conducted a needs analysis for the learners based on intelligibility, “the extent to which a listener actually understands an utterance or message” (Celce-Murcia, Brinton, Goodwin, 2010, p. 32). Some of the following activities are centered on an individualized word list, and the others focus on prosodic features. These activities can be done in class and for self-study; as with any use of technology in class, however, the teacher should model learning and practice strategies and provide sufficient support for learners before turning them loose for self-study (Hubbard, 2013). The following sections summarize the activities that Lara shared at the TESOL 2017 Electronic Village.

Personal Word List Comparison

First, learners record themselves reading their word lists, pausing between each word. They listen to their production of each word in turn, and they compare their production to how the word is pronounced in several YouGlish videos. They can monitor for word stress, vowel length, vowel sounds, and/or consonants. For increased intelligibility, learners should only focus on segments that carry a high functional load, or as Derwing and Munro (2015) explain, those segments that have a large number of minimal pairs, especially when the pairs are frequently-used words, and therefore can be easily confused.

Once learners notice differences between their production and what they hear in the video clips (they can slow the video down for a more careful listen), they can review the phonetic information for more insight and practice. (See Oral Fluency for practice strategies.) After practicing, learners record themselves reading the same word list again and listen for changes; teachers can give feedback regarding intelligibility. For further practice, learners can look to the Nearby Words suggestions to note the differences and perhaps increase the precision of their production.

Working With Prosodic Features

YouGlish provides excellent opportunities to listen to how speakers use prosody in communication. By way of example, these videos can be used to demonstrate phrasal stress, pausing, pitch movement, tone choice, linking, reduction, speech rate, and more. If the teacher has created an account, it is possible to select and save videos that demonstrate a particular target, for example, using the high key for beginning a new topic, by using phrases such as “Good afterNOON” and “The NEXT topic.” That way, learners can work with specific clips, and even use them as a warm-up for presentations or other speaking activities.

To add visual support, extract the transcript (copy and paste into a document), and learners can listen to the video and mark it for the target of choice (see Figure 1). Afterward, learners can practice with the transcript. This is especially useful when preparing for presentations.

Sample transcript marking:

↑ Good afterNOON. Or early Evening↘. Thank you All. →THANK you thAnk you. Uh, FIRST, I just want to-uh- say thAnk you to…Professor HENry, uh, who I NOW know as ↑Yazierous, right↗, which you all gave me. →Uh, JUst for really opening up the spAce / and invIting me hEre, uh, it's really a TREAT↘. Uh, As um / Professor Henry MENtioned, um, I HAD opportUnity to mEEt him IN South Africa, uh, engaging in some / DIFFicult dIalog, if you wIll↘.

Figure 1. Visual support for prosodic features. The symbols in the right-hand column are used represent the prosodic feature in the left-hand column. (https://youglish.com/getcid/11180680/good+afternoon).

Cassidi shared activities that utilize the visual features of YouGlish for elementary and advanced learners in an intensive English program to focus on vocal posture and its role in pronunciation. Following, she summarizes her activities.

Stress

Many of YouGlish’s video clips display a close range view of the speaker’s face, which allows viewers to very easily see mouth movement. To help learners comprehend stressed syllables or words, the video can be slowed down and muted so that listeners can notice stress. Visually, this can be realized by looking for speakers to open their mouths wider, to hold their mouths open longer, to make exaggerated facial expressions, and to use more body movement. While focusing on word stress, learners can also see vowel position; they can pause the video on the stressed syllable to see the stressed vowel in natural speech, then imitate it. Instructors can prepare an activity to show these peak vowels in stressed syllables. Here is an example of a worksheet created by taking screenshots of the videos. These activities not only enhance learners’ understanding of stress and vowel position, but do so in both a listening and a speaking context.

Oral Fluency

One way to increase fluency is for learners to practice tracking with the videos. Tracking is the action of repeating a word immediately after it is spoken and in the same manner, both physically and phonetically (Acton, 1984). This activity can be done first at a slower rate, and then at normal speed. Learners can record their task using QuickTime screen record, which allows them to observe and compare themselves to the original visual/audio. Once they are familiar with the audio through tracking, they can try lip-syncing (silently mouthing the words) along with the audio. Taking it a step further, learners can turn the sound off on the video and, using QuickTime screen record, they can record themselves saying the words from the transcript in place of the actual speaker (voiceover). Learners can then play it back and analyze whether their performance matches up with the movement of the speaker’s mouth and body.

Presentations

In our experience, YouGlish has also proven to be a great tool to use with mirroring techniques for presentation practice. Acton (1984) explains that mirroring involves “attempting to mimic posture, body movements, gesture, and facial expression to the greatest extent possible” (p. 77) Many of YouGlish’s videos are formal presentations offering English language learners (ELLs) examples of how to speak and move while giving a presentation. Presentation-style speech differs greatly from natural speech, and it is important when working with ELLs in an academic setting to note the difference. Learners can search for a suitable video through YouGlish by topic, then attempt to mirror the movements. They can do this in whichever way they find most effective—tracking and mirroring, simultaneous mirroring, or playing segments one at a time, pausing and repeating. The activity produced is real time, movement oriented, and interactive, regardless of which approach is taken.

Recommendations and Other Uses

YouGlish is particularly useful for teaching stress and reductions because learners can analyze the production and study the meaning in context. When looking up a word, ELLs can compare how it sounds in isolation versus in the context of speech. Similarly, some words have different stress patterns to mark the part of speech; to illustrate, permit, increase, and present could be nouns or verbs, depending on which syllable is stressed (e.g., a PERmit vs. to perMIT). As well, stressing or reducing modal verbs (e.g., can, should, will) varies the meaning of an utterance (e.g., You can try YOUglish vs. You CAN try YouGlish).

Not only can YouGlish be used for pronunciation and speaking, but also in reading and vocabulary. Here you can find an example lesson plan created specifically for an advanced reading class. Rather than asking learners to look for meanings of new vocabulary in dictionaries, YouGlish can be used to decipher meaning through context. Learners can also use YouGlish for vocabulary building; by clicking on a word in the transcript, they can see its definition(s), synonyms, usage examples, and even translations.

To conclude, YouGlish offers a much-needed database of language use for ELLs that is easy to navigate and utilize in the classroom. Pronunciation, vocabulary, presentations, fluency, and even reading are a few of the areas focused on in this article, but we believe this website has the potential for many more uses.

References

Acton, W. (1984). Changing fossilized pronunciation. TESOL Quarterly, 18, 71–85.

Celce-Murcia, M., Brinton, D., & Goodwin, J. (2010). Teaching pronunciation: A course book and reference guide (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Derwing, T., & Munro, M. (2015). Pronunciation fundamentals: Evidence-based perspectives for L2 teaching and research. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

Hubbard, P. (2013). Making a case for learner training in technology enhanced language learning environments. CALICO Journal, 30(2). Retrieved from http://journals.sfu.ca/CALICO/index.php/calico/article/view/945

Lara Wallace, PhD, is the coordinator of the ELIP Pronunciation and Presentation Lab and a lecturer in Ohio University’s Department of Linguistics. Her research interests include CALL, international teaching assistants, pronunciation, and oral communication.

Cassidi Hunkler is a recent graduate from Ohio University’s Applied Linguistics MA program, where she served as assistant coordinator of the ELIP Pronunciation and Presentation Lab and teaching associate in the Ohio Program of Intensive English. She plans to pursue a PhD in instructional technology with a focus in pronunciation-based technology.